The Book of Ezekiel is important in many ways and is relevant to the present age. Ezekiel is a shadow of Christ, and the book tells us about the coming Kingdom in detail. Apostle John also wrote about the end times and the Kingdom.

God called Ezekiel “son of man” repeatedly in the book. It was the same title that Christ used for Himself along with the Son of God. Ezekiel mentions “thirtieth year” in Eze 1:1 and Christ started His public ministry around 30 (Luke 3:23). According to Numbers chapter 4, the age 30 is when the Levites enter the service to do the work in the tent of meeting.

In the first twenty-four chapters, the book talks about judgement against Israel. The middle of the book talks about judgment against other nations. The last part is about the Kingdom. Unlike Jeremiah, the book is written chronologically, and it is relatively easy to follow.

Like all other prophets, Ezekiel received curses from God not because of his personal sins but because he was a prophet, a shadow of Christ. This tells a lot to us who are living in an age where church ministers preach on earthly prosperity and freedom from illnesses and sufferings. Many Christians believe sicknesses and poverty is punishment. Ezekiel suffers because of the sins of Israel.

The first chapter of Ezekiel talks about the vision of God in heaven. The same four creatures appear in Revelation 4. I think they symbolizes all the living creatures on the earth. The verses that I’d like to talk about are verse 20-21:

Wherever the spirit was about to go, they would go in that direction. And the wheels rose just as they did; for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels. Whenever those went, they went; and whenever those stopped, they stopped. And whenever those rose from the earth, the wheels rose just as they did; for the spirit of the living beings was in the wheels.

Here “the spirit” refers to a spirit of a creature or the Holy Spirit. The important thing is that the spirit within the wheels determine where the creatures go. It is likely to be the Holy Spirit. Even if “the spirit” is a spirit of a creature, God controls every living creature. God controls everything.

The wheels remind me of the part in John 13 where Christ washed His disciples’ feet.

Then He poured water into the basin, and began washing the disciples’ feet and wiping them with the towel which He had tied around Himself. So He came to Simon Peter. He said to Him, “Lord, You are washing my feet?” Jesus answered and said to him, “What I am doing, you do not realize right now, but you will understand later.” Peter said to Him, “Never shall You wash my feet!” Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no place with Me.” Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, then wash not only my feet, but also my hands and my head!”Jesus said to him, “He who has bathed needs only to wash his feet; otherwise he is completely clean. And you are clean—but not all of you.”For He knew the one who was betraying Him; it was for this reason that He said, “Not all of you are clean. (John 13:5-11)

The Bible mentions feet a few times. Evil people use their feet to do evil. In other words, the feet take them to do evil. The feet represent the status of people.

a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that run swiftly to evil, (Proverbs 6:18)

Their feet run to evil; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and destruction lie in their wake. (Isaiah 59:7)

Their feet are swift to shed blood. (Romans 3:15)

And there are people who have their legs cut off. I am not talking about the legs that we have as physical body parts. Those without legs do neither good nor evil. We must remember both no fruit or bad fruit is the feature of a reprobate.

Only when the Holy Spirit comes, we go and do the will of God. And I believe Christ prepared the feet of the disciples for the Holy Spirit. Physical cleansing does not mean anything. Judas did not receive the Holy Spirit because he was not Christ’s sheep from the beginning.

In the OT and the NT, God tells His prophets, “Go” when He gives them a certain task. Isaiah was told “Go” in Isaiah 6:9. And Philip is told to go to the Ethiopian eunuch in Acts 8:26. The Bible also mentions the word “walk” many times. The walking and the direction taken by a person is determined by one’s spirit. And whoever receives the Holy Spirit does God’s will and bear fruit inevitably.

Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him. (Genesis 5:24)

Verse 2 of Ezekiel chapter 1 talks about number five. Five often indicates God’s grace. All numbers have a meaning or meanings although we do not know much about them.

In the first chapter, Ezekiel confesses that he is chosen by grace of God to see, know and understand the glory of God. He realizes that God is God of all creatures. And Ezekiel is about to be given important tasks according to God’s will. The Knowledge of God is given by the Holy Spirit. And that is the first sign of the Holy Spirit. Anyone who boasts of own works does not have such knowledge, and does not understand the work of the Holy Spirit.